Campus Ministryhttp://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry
Augsburg CollegeMon, 05 Dec 2016 19:00:04 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1Augsburg College is Interfaith Community Service Honor Roll Finalisthttp://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/2016/09/23/augsburg-college-interfaith-community-service-honor-roll-finalist/
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 19:42:05 +0000http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/?p=52318It’s official, Augsburg College is a 2015 Higher Education Interfaith Community Service Honor Roll Finalist “For the extraordinary and exemplary community service contributions of its students, faculty, and staff in meeting critical community and national needs!” Receiving this honor is an outstanding group of Auggies who are attending the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus […]

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It’s official, Augsburg College is a 2015 Higher Education Interfaith Community Service Honor Roll Finalist “For the extraordinary and exemplary community service contributions of its students, faculty, and staff in meeting critical community and national needs!” Receiving this honor is an outstanding group of Auggies who are attending the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge in Washington, DC, September 22-23, 2016: Fardosa Hassan ’12, Muslim Student Program Associate; Emma Blom ’17; Chuill Lip ’18; Mohamud Mohamed ’19; Emilie Tomas ’19. While at the conference, they met up with Auggie Alums Bishop Mark Hanson ’68 and Chris Stedman ’08. Way to go Auggies!

]]>Community Interfaith Iftar Dinnerhttp://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/2016/06/29/community-interfaith-iftar-dinner/
Wed, 29 Jun 2016 17:50:49 +0000http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/?p=52260You are invited! To honor our Muslim sisters and brothers and to bring unity and solidarity to the Seward neighborhood, we will have a Community Interfaith Iftar Dinner this Wednesday evening, June 29, 7:30-10pm. Please join us for fun, food, and great conversation as we break our fast together during Ramadan! This event is sponsored […]

]]>You are invited! To honor our Muslim sisters and brothers and to bring unity and solidarity to the Seward neighborhood, we will have a Community Interfaith Iftar Dinner this Wednesday evening, June 29, 7:30-10pm. Please join us for fun, food, and great conversation as we break our fast together during Ramadan!

]]>Pulling Teeth: Craig Barnes on Preaching Stewardshiphttp://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/2016/04/26/pulling-teeth-craig-barnes-on-preaching-stewardship/
Tue, 26 Apr 2016 19:05:11 +0000http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/?p=52191By Justin Lind-Ayres, Associate College Pastor What sights or sounds do you find cringe worthy? For instance, some people cringe when they see a hair clog pulled out of a drain. Others cringe when they hear fingernails put to a chalkboard. And you? Is there anything that curdles your blood or sends shivers down your […]

What sights or sounds do you find cringe worthy? For instance, some people cringe when they see a hair clog pulled out of a drain. Others cringe when they hear fingernails put to a chalkboard. And you? Is there anything that curdles your blood or sends shivers down your back?

Loose, wiggly teeth: they set me off. Why? I’m not sure. All I know is that when one wiggles, I wig out! Luckily my adult teeth are fairly secure in my mouth so my cringing has been under control for a few decades or so. My oldest child, on the other hand, has been beckoning the Tooth Fairy to visit with her now gapped grin. As I watch three sets of teeth scurry around my house, I am keenly aware that my days of cringing have only begun.

Perhaps the most cringe worthy moment happened a month ago. My seven year-old daughter’s tooth was dangling from the top of her gums by a pink fleshy thread. I swear a stiff breeze would cause it to twitch. At the dinner table, my four year-old daughter kindly asked to pull it out for her. My eldest obliged. Even now I shudder recalling that moment when one sister did the other a favor by pulling out the tooth.

I think the task of preaching on stewardship can be cringe worthy, for preacher and parishoner alike. And for many leaders in the church, attempting to generate energy around gracious giving to the church’s mission can feel like pulling teeth — except these ones aren’t baby teeth.

There are undoubtedly several reasons why stewardship talk in worship and amid the communal life of the congregation can cause the faithful to cringe and shiver. I suspect one plausible reason is the unnecessary hype. That is, stewardship all too often comes once a year in the life of a congregation. That’s too much pressure on everyone involved. Your stewardship sermon on Stewardship Sunday better dazzle and deliver or the mission suffers! Through the lens of gratitude in this preaching moment, Craig Barnes offers another way to approach stewardship that may assuage the cringing.

The lesson of the tooth fairy

Craig Barnes states that gratitude, like stewardship, are themes “better woven in through the course of the year’s preaching, and almost any text will allow you to do that.” I agree. If the gospel bestows the gift of grace through Christ and calls us to live lives of gratitude to God through loving service to and with others, then our proclamation ought to be permeated by this gracious talk. The beauty of receiving the gifts of God is experienced most fully in the giving of these gifts of the sake of neighbor and the world.

How, then, do we weave gratitude (stewardship) into the liturgical flow of the church year? Will “almost any” scripture text do, as Barnes suggest? Maybe. But even when a scripture text might not lend itself to gratitude, opportunities abound in congregational living. Every Sunday is a little Easter after all, and our response to the resurrection is steeped in gratitude for life’s victory over death!

Despite consistent preaching on gratitude and stewardship throughout the year, people may still cringe from time to time, especially when money is involved. So it was with the Tooth Fairy and her recent visit to our home. Much like preaching on gratitude ought to be woven into congregational life, so too gratitude ought to be woven into our daily living. It occurred to me: why not use the Tooth Fairy as a teachable tool for giving? Along with three shiny quarters, the following hastily written note was placed under my daughter’s pillow:

You lost your first tooth, and I am so proud.
I flew into your room. Shhh! Not so loud.
Asleep in your bed, you sure did not hear.
Under your pillow three quarters appeared.

One quarter to spend however you wish,
Another quarter to save and cherish.
Finally one quarter please give it away,
And share it with others, for this I pray!

When my daughter read the note, she began to weep. She was okay with saving a quarter in her piggybank, but the idea of giving one away made her cringe to the point of tears. Giving can be painful, as we all know. It involves sacrifice. But we insisted that she follow the advice of the Tooth Fairy. When she regained her composure, she reluctantly decided to share the third quarter with our church.

My daughter’s weeping at the thought of giving was a hard moment also as a parent to experience, to be sure. But I will never forget how she beamed with pride on that next Sunday as her quarter rattled the offering plate. For that I am ever grateful.

The light shines in the darkness…
Minnesota, we know the dark well in the shortest days of winter.
Fifteen hours of the day dedicated to darkness.
Seasonal affective disorder.
January blues.
Cold. Cold. Cold.
Then comes the thaw.
And the light shines.

Sun lingers.
Warmth.
Birds return, flowers bud, trees blossom. Vibrant colors everywhere and life has returned.
Well maybe it never went away to begin with.
Fifteen and a half hours dedicated to light.
Spring is here!
And the light shines.

It’s cliche, but when you’ve got two rooms. One dark, one light. You open the door between them, and immediately the dark room is flooded with light and the light room remains untouched by the darkness.
And the light shines.

Familiar is failure.
Familiar is grief.
Familiar is loneliness.
Familiar is darkness.
But in the failure, comes opportunity.
In the grief comes healing.
In the loneliness comes a friend.
In the darkness comes light.

Even walking with Christ has darkness.
We are in Lent. This is dark times, but the Son is coming,
And the light shines.

]]>Waffle Church! Wednesday, Feb 24, at 9:30pmhttp://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/2016/02/22/waffle-church-wednesday-feb-24-at-930pm/
Mon, 22 Feb 2016 15:48:13 +0000http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/?p=52135Join us in Hoversten chapel for the first Waffle Church! Wednesday, February 24, 9:30pm in Hoversten Chapel. It promises to be a fun and delicious service with holy communion and freshly made waffles enjoyed together. Everyone is welcome!

]]>Join us in Hoversten chapel for the first Waffle Church! Wednesday, February 24, 9:30pm in Hoversten Chapel. It promises to be a fun and delicious service with holy communion and freshly made waffles enjoyed together. Everyone is welcome!

]]>Fosdick Lecture on Preaching: February 2, 2016http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/2016/01/29/fosdick-lecture-on-preaching/
Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:57:48 +0000http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/?p=52111Author William Kent Krueger The Christian faith is rooted in story. The stories of scripture communicate the grace of God en-fleshed in time and place. When shared, this divine plot has the power to pull people into the narrative in transformative ways. This is the confession of the church that is storied by God. Join […]

The Christian faith is rooted in story. The stories of scripture communicate the grace of God en-fleshed in time and place. When shared, this divine plot has the power to pull people into the narrative in transformative ways. This is the confession of the church that is storied by God.

Join the Augsburg College Campus Ministry Office on February 2, 2016, for the first Fosdick Lecture on Preaching with New York Times best-selling author and Minnesota native William Kent Krueger. A renowned story-teller with sixteen novels to his credit – including Ordinary Grace – Kent will speak on the power of story and its “importance to us and its unique ability to move people in mysterious and necessary ways.” His lecture will offer helpful and practical insights for his fans as well as people, like preachers, particularly engaged in the story-telling process. All are welcome.

The morning session will continue with a Response then conclude with Daily Chapel Worship at 11:30 am with the Reverend Rachel Wrenn preaching. Rachel is a 2011 graduate from Luther Seminary and recipient of the 2011 A. E. Hanson Prize in Preaching from the seminary. She is actively engaged in small town and rural ministry in Southwest Minnesotaand a frequent contributor to the online preaching resource, Working Preacher.

]]>First Jummah (Friday) Prayer Service Heldhttp://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/2016/01/28/frist-jummah-friday-prayer-service-held/
Thu, 28 Jan 2016 22:05:39 +0000http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/?p=52101Friday the 22nd of January was the very first Jummah Prayer service that will be held regularly! A special thank you to those who attended, and to those who made this possible, and Mohamud who gave the first qutba. We will be holding Jummah Prayer, every Friday, in the chapel. Everyone is more than welcome to join […]

]]>Friday the 22nd of January was the very first Jummah Prayer service that will be held regularly! A special thank you to those who attended, and to those who made this possible, and Mohamud who gave the first qutba. We will be holding Jummah Prayer, every Friday, in the chapel. Everyone is more than welcome to join us!

]]>Over 200 Kits Assembled in Daily Chapel for Those in Needhttp://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/2015/12/11/over-200-kits-assembled-for-those-in-need-in-daily-chapel/
Fri, 11 Dec 2015 21:06:32 +0000http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/?p=52052This morning for the last daily chapel of the semester, Augsburg students, faculty, and staff all gathered to assemble hygiene kits for Health Commons. These kits will be sent to Central Lutheran Church to be distributed to people experiencing homelessness in the wider community. Together over 200 kits were assembled! It was a great way […]

This morning for the last daily chapel of the semester, Augsburg students, faculty, and staff all gathered to assemble hygiene kits for Health Commons. These kits will be sent to Central Lutheran Church to be distributed to people experiencing homelessness in the wider community. Together over 200 kits were assembled! It was a great way to share God’s love with our neighbors and mark the end of the fall semester. Thank you to all who came and helped out and to Health Commons! – Contributed by Jacie Richmond, Pastoral Intern, Luther Seminary

]]>Rethinking Children’s Sermonshttp://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/2015/11/23/rethinking-childrens-sermons/
Mon, 23 Nov 2015 20:16:57 +0000http://www.augsburg.edu/campusministry/?p=52031by Pastor Justin Lind-Ayres Pastor Justin is the Associate College Pastor at Augsburg College and is an excellent mentor to our students preparing for ministry. He has been serving at Augsburg College since August of 2013. Justin received his Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul and his Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological […]

Pastor Justin is the Associate College Pastor at Augsburg College and is an excellent mentor to our students preparing for ministry. He has been serving at Augsburg College since August of 2013. Justin received his Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul and his Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Justin is passionate about liturgical studies, preaching, social justice issues, and the power of biblical metaphors in the lives of the people of God. When not working with the wonderfully talented Campus Ministry staff at Augsburg, Justin can be found spending time with his family, cooking, reading, drinking coffee, watching sports and an occasional movie, and fly fishing for steelhead and trout.

I have to confess that I haven’t always been a fan of children’s sermons. I questioned their efficacy and wondered if they were more of a distraction from worship than a component of worship. It is a challenge to teach/preach to a cadre of kids in a few minutes without sinking into the mire of moralistic mantras. Or, on the other side of sermonic spectrum, fall into the trap of sharing a message every week with the children that inevitably ended with, “Jesus loves you!” Incidentally, the latter was often the case for me!

In addition to content liability, there is an unspoken pressure to be funny or cute with the children so as to keep the listening adults of the assembly entertained. I suppose this was the piece that bothered me most. I have said more than once, “We don’t call all the worshippers over 65 years forward, make them sit on the floor, ask them questions that test their bible acumen, and then laugh at them when they summon the courage to speak.” I’m not sure this was the best argument for dropping children’s messages from the liturgy, but I have seen many kids physically deflate when their earnest responses conjure the cackles of the congregation. Worship leaders, Sunday teachers, youth minsters, and pastors must be careful not to unintentionally and ever so publically shame our children. For many reasons, then, I have tried to worm my way out of delivering children’s sermons.

But then I had children of my own and I began to see worship through their eyes! My kids thoroughly enjoy the children’s messages at our congregation, and not just because their dad is NOT delivering them (but that may be part of it too!). One of the many joys of my call as the associate pastor at Augsburg College is the fact that Sunday mornings are without pastoral duties on campus. Thus, I am able to worship with my family as a parishioner in the pew at our home congregation. Children’s messages are no longer my responsibility. The pastors, diaconal minister, high school students, and other adults who give the children’s messages at my congregation do an outstanding job! They create a welcome environment, are sensitive to the needs of the children, teach on a plethora of topics (though, Jesus’ love for them is often emphasized as it should be!), and instill in the kids a sense of belonging in worship. My children enthusiastically scamper to the center of our worship space when beckoned to receive a word of God for them.

Over the past few years, my appreciation for children’s sermons has grown. My home congregation has one every single week, no matter what. It is one of the many ways that they communicate full welcome and participation of children throughout the entire service. And it speaks volumes to children about their own place in the midst of worshiping assembly. I fully realized this last month when my grandfather died.

Without question, our three children (ages 6, 4, and 1) were going to be in worship at my grandfather’s funeral in rural Minnesota. As a family and as people of faith, we needed to grieve and worship God together! Two days before the funeral, I was explaining the funeral worship service to my two older daughters. After hearing about the casket, how there would be singing, bible readings, and the fact that our whole family would be together at my grandfather’s church, my eldest daughter immediately asked, “Is there going to be a children’s sermon?” I was floored. I never thought about having a children’s sermon at a funeral before. Not once. And I think about funeral liturgies a lot! Her question serves as a testimony to me of the import of children’s messages in the lives of the young believers in our communities of faith.

There wasn’t a children’s sermon at my grandfather’s funeral. But maybe there should have been. I would have been happy to preach that one! I would have gathered all 35 great-grandchildren around my grandfather, asked them to place their hands on the casket, and had them repeat after me,

“Great-grandpa Melvin,” (repeat)

“Jesus loves you.” (repeat)

“Today, tomorrow, and forever.” (repeat)

Then I would have looked at them and said, “Dear ones, the Jesus who loves Great-grandpa Melvin, loves you too! Today, tomorrow, and forever. Amen.”